Lois A. Bristol Young
October 16, 1923 – DOD
Class: 44-W-3
Training Location:
Assigned Bases:
Planes flown:
Graduation Details:
- Dates: October 4, 1943-April 15, 1944
- Number of Trainees:96 trainees, 57 graduates
- Place:Gymnasium, Avenger Field, Sweetwater, Texas
- A review of trainees on the flight line followed the indoor ceremony
- Graduation Speaker:Brigadier General Luther S. Smith, Acting Chief of STaff, AAF Central Flying Training Command
- Master of Ceremonies: Lieutenant Patrick B. McAnany, Intelligence Officer, 318th AAFFTD Avenger Field, Sweetwater, Texas
- Distinguished Guest: Colonel H. H. Door, Commanding Officer, 31st Flying Training Wing, Enid, Oklahoma
- Band: Big Springs Bombardier School Band
Lois was stationed at Bryan, Texas as an instrument check pilot. Following the war Burt Rice (to whom she married the day before graduation) went to Veterinary school in Fort Collins, CO. On his graduation in 1955 they moved to California, first in San Diego for a year then to Pomona in 1961. After 18 years of marriage they were divorced. Lois remained in Pomona and went to work for the Claremont Graduate School for 6 years. She married Herb Young two years following her divorce and spent many happy years with him.
Visit the WASP Virtual Museum to see the 19 WASP honored in a memorial in Lincoln, NE
Nineteen WASP came from Nebraska. They are: Dorothy L. Bancroft, Mary B. Beecham, Lois V. Boien, Lois A. Bristol, Grace “Betty” E. Clements, Mary A. Jershin, Eileen “Ikey” A. Kealy, Marybelle J. Lyall, Esther L. Mueller, Roberta E. Mundt, Margaret “Peggy” L. Nispel, Millicent A. Peterson, Alice L. Riss, Evelyn G. Sharp, B. Kristin Swan, Helen A. Turner, Isabel E. Tynon, Jane E. Waite and Mary E. Williamson.
In the 2014 Rose Bowl parade Lois was one of eight WASP who rode atop the float and represented the 1,102 WASP who earned their wings and proudly served their country.
Source: Photos and information courtesy Texas Women’s University in Denton, Texas
